University of 
Michigan Documents Center

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT RESOURCES
Legislative Branch

Frames Index | No-Frames Version

MEMBERS
Biographies | Compensation | Congressional Districts | Directories | Staff

LEGISLATION
Background | Bill Drafting | Bills | Committee Calendars | Committee Markups/Votes
Committee Publications | Comprehensive Guides | Congressional Research Service
Debates | Documents | Floor Calendars | Floor Votes | Hearings | News | Politics
Reports | Serial Set | Vetoes | Years/Congress Conversion Table

SUPPORT AGENCIES
CBO | CRS | GAO | GPO | LC | OTA

Related Pages
Constitution | Laws | Legislative Histories Guide
Legislative Histories Tutorial | Public Policy Matrix

Directory Search

Last updated on October 7, 2008

Class Assignments

Legislative History Chart

    • Graphically summarizes the steps in the legislative process
    • Links to public access and campus-licensed web products

Public Policy Matrix

    • Detailed summary of legislative process from identifying a problem, to legislation to executive branch solutions to influences on politicians
    • Provides hot links to public access and campus-licensed web sites

Congressional Directories

Biographies | Compensation | Congressional Districts | Directories - 110th | Directories - 109th | Directories - 108th | Directories - 107th
Directories - 106th | Directories - 105th | Directories - 104th | Directories - 103rd
Directories - Historical | House/Senate Web Sites | Staff


Directories - 110th Congress

    • Congressional District Maps: 110th Congress (Chris Chubb)
      • Choose name of state; then either pan or choose city or district number to view
      • Map displays county and city names in a district as well as the representative
      • Coloring is by political party of current office holder

    • Congressional E-Mail List, 110th Congress (UMich)
      • House and Senate members with e-mail or webmail addresses

    • Contacting Congress (Juan Cabanela)
      • Provides a web interface to Member phone, fax, district office, and e-mail address
      • Committee and Subcommittee Assignments will provide the phone, fax, district office, e-mail address, and biography of individual members

    • Ethnic Majority
      • Links to national and state political organizations for African Americans, Hispanics, and Asians
      • List and web links to current African American, Hispanic and Asian members of Congress

    • Women in Congress (Clerk of the House)
      • Lists of all women serving in the House and Senate since 1917
      • Brief biographies and fact lists (who succeeded husband, who married another Congressman, etc.
      • The web site is updated continuously
      • There is also a book form copy of the same work

Directories - 109th Congress

Directories - 108th Congress

Directories - 107th Congress

    • Congressional E-Mail List - 107th Congress
      • One page with all Senators and Congressmen
      • Easy to print

    • House of Representatives (UMich)
      • State, District, name, party, and Capitol Hill phone number
      • Fax numbers, office addresses, e-mail addresses and web sites

    • Senate (UMich)
      • State, name, party, and Capitol Hill phone number
      • Fax numbers, office addresses, e-mail addresses, and web sites

    • Official Congressional Directory - 107th Congress
      • Index to Members of Congress, committees, staff, and Executive Branch agencies, searchable by keyword
      • Browsable by state or section
      • Includes Congressional District maps, biographies, and committee assignments

    • Women and Minorities in the 107th Congress (UMich Only)
      • Lists names and numbers of blacks, Hispanics, Asian/Pacific Islander, American Indian and women members of the House and Senate
      • Also includes occupation and religion in each house
      • CQ Weekly Report, January 25, 2003, p. 192-193
      • Similar information in the January 20, 2001 and January 31, 2005 issues
      • Search the archives for "women and minorities" and quotes

Directories - 106th Congress

    • Congressional E-Mail Addresses
      • House and Senate e-mail addresses and web sites arranged by state
      • Large file on one page but printable and downloadable

    • Official Congressional Directory (GPO)
      • Index to Members of Congress, committees, staff, and Executive Branch agencies, searchable by keyword since the 104th Congress (1995)
      • Browsable by state or section since 1999
      • Includes Congressional District maps

    • House of Representatives (UMich)
      • State, District, name, party, and Capitol Hill phone number
      • Fax numbers, office addresses, e-mail addresses and web sites

    • Senate (UMich)
      • State, name, party, and Capitol Hill phone number
      • Fax numbers, office addresses, e-mail addresses and web sites

    • Women and Minorities (UMich Only)
      • Analyze members of Congress by gender, race (white, black, Native American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic) as well as religion, occupation and veteran status
      • Data begins with the 79th Congress, 1945
      • Also includes roll call votes, lobby group ratings, and party unity scores


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Directories - 105th Congress

    • University of Michigan Congressional Directories
      • Congressional E-Mail Addresses, Members of Congress, and Committee Assignments beginning 1993
      • Originally appeared on ULIBRARY Gopher
      • Text format for easy downloading and redistribution

    • Congressional Directory, 105th Congress (UMich)
      • Consolidated House and Senate member lists
      • Arranged by state and district
      • Address, phone, fax, e-mail and web site for incumbents

    • Congressional E-Mail Addresses, 105th Congress, 1997/98 (UMich)
      • E-mail and web sites for Representatives and Senators
      • Easy to download or print for redistribution

    • Official Congressional Directory (GPO)
      • Index to Members of Congress, committees, staff, and Executive Branch agencies, searchable by keyword since the 104th Congress (1995)
      • Browsable by state or section since 1997
      • Includes Congressional District maps

    • Women and Minorities (UMich Only)
      • Analyze members of Congress by gender, race (white, black, Native American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic) as well as religion, occupation and veteran status
      • Data begins with the 79th Congress, 1945
      • Also includes roll call votes, lobby group ratings, and party unity scores

Directories - 104th Congress

    • Congressional Addresses, 1995/96 (UMich)
      • House and Senate consolidated directories
      • Includes district, party, address, telephone, fax, e-mail, and web site
      • Keyword indexes

    • Congressional Committee Assignments, 1995/96 (UMich)
      • Committee and subcommittee assignments

    • Congressional E-Mail Addresses, 1995/96 (UMich)
      • E-mail and web sites for Representatives and Senators
      • Easy to download or print for redistribution

    • Official Congressional Directory (GPO)
      • Index to Members of Congress, committees, staff, and Executive Branch agencies, searchable by keyword since the 104th Congress (1995)
      • Browsable by state or section since 1999
      • Includes Congressional District maps

    • Women and Minorities (UMich Only)
      • Analyze members of Congress by gender, race (white, black, Native American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic) as well as religion, occupation and veteran status
      • Data begins with the 79th Congress, 1945
      • Also includes roll call votes, lobby group ratings, and party unity scores

Directories - 103rd Congress

    • Congressional Addresses, 1993/94 (UMich)
      • House and Senate consolidated directories
      • Includes district, party, address, telephone, fax, e-mail
      • Keyword indexes

    • Congressional Committee Assignments, 1993/94 (UMich)
      • Committee and subcommittee assignments

    • Congressional E-Mail Addresses, 1993/94 (UMich)
      • E-mail and web sites for Representatives and Senators
      • Easy to download or print for redistribution

    • Women and Minorities (UMich Only)
      • Analyze members of Congress by gender, race (white, black, Native American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic) as well as religion, occupation and veteran status
      • Data begins with the 79th Congress, 1945
      • Also includes roll call votes, lobby group ratings, and party unity scores

Directories - Historical

    • Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774+ (Senate)
      • Substantial biographies of all Senators, Representatives, and other delegates to Congress, Continental Congress to the present
      • Includes links to the location of their research papers
      • Search by first name, last name, position, state, party, and/or year

    • Black Americans in Congress
      • Biographies of 123 African Americans serving in Congress, 1870-2007 as senators and representatives
      • Includes artifacts and historical data, including committee assignments, leadership positions, and states represented

    • CQ Congress Collection (UMich Only)
      • Analyze members of Congress by gender, race (white, black, Native American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic) as well as religion, occupation and veteran status
      • Data begins with the 79th Congress, 1945
      • Also includes roll call votes, lobby group ratings, and party unity scores

    • Committee Directories
      • Committees in the U.S. Congress, 1947-1992 (Doc. Cen. JK 1029 .N451 1993)

    • Party Divisions and Control, 1789+

    • Party Leaders in Congress, 1789-2002 (CRS)
      • House and Senate floor leaders, speakers, whips, conference and caucus chairs
      • Individual tables begin with various dates since 1789
      • Identification includes name, state, party, and date

    • United States Association of Former Members of Congress
      • Association conducts study tours and seminars on the role of Congress in American society
      • Web site lists names of members by chamber of service

    • Women in Congress (Clerk of the House)
      • Lists of all women serving in the House and Senate since 1917
      • Brief biographies and fact lists (who succeeded husband, who married another Congressman, etc.
      • The web site is updated continuously
      • There is also a book form copy of the same work

Staff

    • Congressional Yellow Book, 1985+
      • Most current directory of Congress available
      • Brief biographies of Congressmen and great detail on legislative staff assignments in Washington and in their respective districts
      • Directories of committees and subcommittees with similar detail on their legislative staffs
      • JK 1083 .C75 with current in Documents Center
      • Congressional Staff Directory (JK 1012 .C75 with current in Documents Center) covers the period 1959-2003

    • Congressional Staff Employment Surveys (Congressional Management Organization)
      • Typical salaries of Congressional staff members by position, average age, and years of experience
      • Taken biennially for the House and Senate
      • Only the Senate Study, 1991-2001 is still free on the web

    • Legistorm
      • Salaries of Congressional staff members, including interns
      • Searchable by name, Member of Congress, and committee


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Biographies

    • Advanced Member Analysis (UMich Only)
      • Segment of the CQ Congress Collection
      • Search for members of Congress state, position, party, occupation, religion, sex, race and military service

    • Almanac of American Politics
      • Arranged by state and Congressional District
      • Detailed political profile of each district as well as demographic statistics
      • Political profiles of individual Members of Congress with brief election data, lobby group ratings, key votes in Congress, and campaign finances
      • Paper copy in Documents Center (JK 1012 .A44) with older issues in Graduate Library stacks
      • Web Version available to University of Michigan users since 1998

    • Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774+ (Senate)
      • Substantial biographies of all Senators, Representatives, and other delegates to Congress, Continental Congress to the present
      • Includes links to the location of their research papers
      • Search by first name, last name, position, state, party, and/or year

    • Characteristics of the Congress

    • Congressional Universe (UMich Only)
      • Interactive search for Members of Congress since 1989
      • Search terms include sex, race, party, birthdate, educational attainment, alma mater, religion

    • Official Congressional Directory (GPO)
      • Biographies of Congresspersons as well as the counties and zip codes represented and staff members, 104th Congress, 1995+
      • Committee and subcommittee memberships and staff
      • Searchable but not browsable
      • Index retrieves section of book rather than specific information
      • Updated once per year
      • Editions for 1852-1958 available on the web through the Hathi Trust with paper copies in the Graduate Library stacks or Buhr (JK 1011)

    • Political Graveyard
      • Cemeteries in which over 100,000 federal, state and local politicians are buried
      • Arranged by name of person, office, birth and death years
      • Cemeteries arranged alphabetically and by state/county
      • Brief political biography of politician with links to fuller biographies as available
      • Cemetery lists provide biographies of politicians with some links to the Tiger Map Server
      • Extensive section on political families although relationships also shown under the name search

    • Project Vote Smart
      • Campaign finances, lobby group ratings and sample votes of Representatives and Senators
      • Answers to National Political Awareness Test (stance on specific issues) if available

    • Who's Who in the Federal Government (U.Memphis)
      • Links to biographies of the cabinet and heads of independent agencies
      • Includes links to Congressional committee chairs

    • Women in Congress (Clerk of the House)
      • Lists of all women serving in the House and Senate since 1917
      • Brief biographies and fact lists (who succeeded husband, who married another Congressman, etc.
      • The web site is updated continuously
      • There is also a book form copy of the same work

Compensation

    • Congressional Quarterly's Guide to Congress, 5th edition (Doc. Cen. JK 1021 .C75 2000)
      • Carries a history of Congressional salaries in vol. 2, p. 776
      • 2000 salary was $141,300 for both Senators and Representatives

    • Legistorm
      • Database of trips made by Members of Congress with price, destination, and who paid for it
      • Salaries for Senators and Representatives in 2008 were $169,300

    • Power Trips (American Radioworks)
      • Travel expenses in 2004 by individual Congressmen and Senators
      • Travel money spent by the political parties
      • Most expensive trips and groups contributing the most to Congressional travel

    • Senate Ledger, 1790-1881
      • Digitized record of compensation and mileage reimbursements paid to Senators

Congressional Districts

District Maps

    • Congressional District Maps: 110th Congress (Chris Chubb)
      • Choose name of state; then either pan or choose city or district number to view
      • Map displays county and city names in a district as well as the representative
      • Coloring is by political party of current office holder

    • Official Congressional Directory
      • Individual maps for each state appear in pdf format toward the end of the Congressional Directory
      • Online available, 1995+ through GPO Access
      • Editions for 1852-1958 available on the web through the Hathi Trust with paper copies in the Graduate Library stacks or Buhr (JK 1011) but only those 1920+ can be confirmed to have maps

    • Historical Atlas of Congressional Districts, 1789-1983
      • Available in paper copy only in Documents Center (G1201.F9 M31 1982)

    • American Factfinder
      • Draw Congressional District boundary maps by first going to Reference Maps
      • Then search or browse for name of state
      • Under Boundaries choose Boundaries and Labels for STATE, COUNTIES, CITIES, PLACES, and 106th or more recent CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS

    • Government Redistricting Web Sites (Purdue)
      • Links to the Congressional redistricting web sites of most states in 2001
      • Often they provide proposed maps, statistics, and redistricting rules

    • Zip Codes

Congressional District Data

    • 2000 Census Data, 106th-110th Congresses

    • 106th Congressional District Census Data (UMich)
      • Labelled Excel spreadsheets with demographic profile data for each 106th Congressional District
      • Covers population, social characteristics, economic characteristics, and housing characteristics
      • In EXCEL, highlight the entire spreadsheet, then select DATA/SORT/COLUMN NAME/DESCENDING to rank districts by most to least under any given category

    • Congressional District Data Book, 87th Congress, (HA205 .A48 1961)
    • Congressional District Data Book, 88th Congress, (HA205 .A48 1963)
    • Congressional District Data Book, 93rd Congress, (HA205 .A48 1973)

House/Senate

    • House of Representatives Web Site
      • Member and committee directories
      • Committee schedules, roll call votes

    • Senate Web Site
      • Directories of Senators with name and state
      • Includes biographies, committee assignments
      • Links to web sites of individual Senators
      • Lists of Senate e-mail addresses
      • Committee, leadership, procedural, and historical information


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Legislation

Background | Bill Drafting | Bills | Committee Calendars | Committee Markups/Votes
Committee Publications | Comprehensive Guides | Congressional Research Service
Debates | Documents | Floor Calendars | Floor Votes | Hearings | News | Politics
Reports | Serial Set | Years/Congress Conversion Table

Comprehensive Guides

    • CQ Guide to Congress (UMich Only)
      • Detailed history of Congress and legislative procedure
    • How a Bill Becomes a Law (Dirksen Center)
      • Compact but entertaining tool for undertstanding the federal legislative process
      • Each unit from introduction to bill signing includes legislative definitions, strategies, statistics and quirks, and the legislative junkie (links to information sources)

    • Legislative Histories in the United States Congress
      • Step-by-step guide for class assignments
      • Includes legislative histories, lobby groups, and campaign finances
    • Legislative Sourcebook (Law Librarians' Society of Washington, D.C.)
      • Treasures include establishing persistent links to THOMAS and GPO legislative documents and GAO reports
      • Table lists Congresses, 1789-1999, plus serial set volumes and Presidential Executive Orders
      • Excellent lists of House and Senate hearings on the web
    • Library of Congress
      • Extensive, annotated list of government and non-government legislative sources
    • Years of Congress Conversion Table (Univ. of North Texas)
      • List each Congress and session, beginning with the first in 1789
      • Provides the opening and closing date
      • Especially handy for tracking the text of bills, hearings, and committee reports when only the Congress is cited


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Background Information

    • All Politics
      • Today's political news from Time, CNN, and Congressional Quarterly

    • Almanac of Policy Issues
      • Extensive web site on nine policy areas: criminal justice, culture and society, economics, education, environment, government operations, health, social welfare, and world affairs
      • Each section is divided into 4-10 subtopics
      • Provides a non-partisan back to the issues
      • Links to articles on all sides of the subject as well as primary documents and related government agencies, think tanks, and organizations

    • Congressional Quarterly (UMich Only)
      • Weekly publication with non-partisan political analysis of Congress
      • Identifies major legislation, the issues, and players
      • Roll call votes
      • Political party and election analysis
      • Web coverage begins in 1983 and is searchable
      • Congressional Quarterly Almanac (UMich Only) is a detailed summary of the weekly reports, 1946-2006.

    • Environment and Energy News
      • Daily publication on environmental and energy legislation

    • Hill on the Web
      • Weekly newspaper on Congress with focus on behind the scenes information about members
      • Searchable archives since June 1999

    • National Journal (UMich Only)
      • Full text of the National Journal, which analyzes executive branch politics, since 1977
        • Paper copy also in Graduate Library as JK 1 .N28 with current issues in Documents Center
      • Almanac of American Politics, which analyzes Congressional Districts and the politics of their representatives, since 1998
      • Committee Markup Reports since 1999
      • Public opinion polls and election polls since the late 1990s
      • Congress Daily

    • PBS Political Wrap
      • Transcripts of daily political news reported by PBS beginning 1998
      • Includes links to background information

    • Roll Call
      • Several articles on todays Congressional news; archive only by subscription
      • Extensive policy briefings on a current topic (e.g. appropriations) changed every few weeks
      • Full text since 1989 also available in Academic Universe (UMich Only)


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Bill Drafting

    • Guide to Drafting Legislative Documents (US House Legislative Counsel)
      • Unannotated links to federal, state, and international drafting manuals
      • Users may need to be creative in linking to the new sites by eliminating the House of Rep additions to the URL

Bills

    • Congressional Universe (UMich Only)
      • Indexes bills beginning 1989; provides full text and legislative status
      • Complete legislative histories for bills passed into law
    • GPO Access
      • Bills, committee calendars, reports, and documents beginning 104th Congress
      • Best public source for downloading complete text of bills
    • History of Bills (GPO Access)
      • Search bills beginning 1983 by keyword or bill number
      • Use parentheses for phrase: "S.J.Res.7" or "balanced budget"
      • Provides references to the Congressional Record, including: introduction, committee referral, debate, votes
      • Does not provide the complete text of the Record
    • THOMAS
      • Full text of Congressional bills, 1989+
      • Best public source for keyword indexing of bills and Congressional Record due to proximity searching
      • Includes text of all bill versions, legislative status, and links to reports and debates
      • Indexes bills 1973+ by sponsor, subject, and stage in the legislative process
      • Provides bill status and an abstract

Historical Bill Texts

Time CoverageSource
1989+ Congressional Universe (UMich Only)
1989+ THOMAS
1979-2000 Documents Center Microfiche
1933+ Law Library Micro 10 S-502
1900-1932 No complete set known. Try printed Congressional Record (J 11.R) or the House and Senate reports as listed in Congressional Universe (UMich Only)
1789-1899 Serials and Microforms
FILM X557 = House
FILM X558 = Senate

Committee Calendars


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Committee Publications

    • Committee Publications include
      • Hearings (testimony)
      • Committee Prints (research reports)
      • Reports (recommendations on bills)
      • Documents (Executive Branch communiques)

    • Published Hearings
      • Congressional Universe (UMich Only) [Web]
        • Indexes committee hearings, prints and reports since 1789
        • Provides access to the full text of selected hearings testimony beginning 1988, reports since 1989 and committee prints since 1993
        • Most publications for the past six years are available in the Documents Center in paper copy under their SUDOCS (Y1, Y4 or Y10) numbers all publications are available in the Documents Center on microfiche
        • Video on Congressional Universe (9 minutes, wmv)
        • Tips on Using Full Text Hearings in Lexis Congressional
      • Congressional Hearings (Rutgers-Camden School of Law)
        • Full text of over 7000 Congressional hearings published 1970-98
        • Searchable by full text
        • Hearings may be downloaded page-by-page or in segments
      • Congressional Hearings via GPO Access
        • Selected hearings beginning 1995 also available free to the public via the Government Printing Office
        • Arranged by committee; no index
        • Text and pdf formats
      • Congressional Publications (Law Librarians' Society of Washington, D.C.
        • Lists Congressional hearings and committee prints, as well as laws, for sale by the Government Printing Office
        • Arranged by week of release and committee since May 25, 1998
        • Provides GPO stock number and price
      • Congressional Hearings Finding Guide
        • Location of printed and microfiche hearings at the University of Michigan Library
        • Microsoft Word document

    • Unpublished hearings
      • Congressional Universe (UMich Only)
        • Carries selected testimony beginning 1988
        • Indexed by subject, keyword, speaker, committee and date
        • Found under Congressional Publications/Search the Full Text of Testimony
        • Authorized remote users should dial into Ann Arbor Campus rather than a Merit number with telecommunications package assigned a campus IP address
      • Academic Universe
        • Selected testimony appears under Advanced News Search/Transcripts/Political Transcripts
      • C-Span
        • Television coverage of Congressional floor and committee proceedings translated into real audio; requires helper application
        • Current Congressional television programming
      • Web sites of Executive Branch agencies and professional or lobby organizations called to testify
      • The Law Librarians' Society of Washington, D.C. lists committee web sites that may have unpublished hearings
      • Also search by keyword in subject and the word "testimony" in Google's Uncle Sam (testimony electricity grid) and FirstGov (electricity and energy and grid)

    • Historic Digitized Hearings


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    • Reports
      • Congressional Universe (UMich Only)
        • Full text of reports since 1989
        • Indexed by keyword, subject, committee, date, and bill number
      • THOMAS
        • Page down to Committee Information to locate
        • Full text of committee reports (i.e. recommendations) searchable by keyword, bill number, report number, and committee
        • Reports segmented into easily viewable segments
        • Links to the full text of the legislation in question and legislative status

    • Documents (Executive Branch communications) available on the web via GPO Access

Historical Reports and Documents

    • Congressional Serial Set, 1789-1969 (UMich Only)
      • Historic Full Text section of LEXIS-NEXIS Congressional has the full text of over 333,000 documents and 50,000 maps
      • Includes all legislative reports on bills, some hearings, national commission reports, and most Executive Branch documents issued during the 19th Century
      • Source for social, military, economic, and technology history (immigration, Civil War, Treasury annual reports, lighthouses) as well as geographic explorations
      • Indexed by subject, keyword, author, geography, bill number, law number, witness name, serial number, and SUDOCS number
      • Video on Congressional Universe (9 minutes, wmv)
      • Congressional Serial Set Online Exhibit
      • Select Volumes Digitized by Google

    • Serial Set
      • Selected Senate Documents, 1789-1835, 1899, and 1904-05, digitized by the Library of Congress
      • Microfiche copies of the entire Serial Set in the Documents Center
      • Paper volumes -1920 in Buhr; 1921+ in Grad Library Stacks on 1 East

    • Serial Set at the University of Michigan
      • Location of Congressional Serial Set in paper and microfiche
      • Indexes and conversion tables from individual number to bound volume number

    • Schedule of Volumes (LLSDC)
      • List of individual Serial Set volumes beginning 1970 and the reports/documents each bound volume contains
      • Continues listings found in Congressional Universe

    • Table of Congressional Volumes and Presidential Issuances: 1789-1999 (LLSDC - pdf)
      • Lists Congress, year, and first Serial Set volume number
      • The Serial Set is the bound version of House and Senate Reports and Documents

    • Legislative Archives (NARA)
      • Guide to unpublished legislative and Congressional committee documents beginning 1789
      • Instructions for obtaining the material from the National Archives


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Committee Markups and Votes

    • Definitions
      • Markups are committee meetings held after the hearings to make changes in a bill and make recommendations to the floor about its passage
      • Votes are taken among committee members to determine whether the bill should be referred to the floor for consideration
      • Reports are issued if the committee determines to recommend the bill
      • Markup sessions are covered primarily by the press rather than official government reporters

    • Academic Universe
      • Provides transcripts and summaries of markups
      • Found under News/Transcripts
      • The specific file is FDCH Political Transcripts but it is better to search all transcripts; include the word markup as a keyword
      • Search will include some false drops; look for term MARKS UP in search results

    • National Journal Markup Reports (UMich Only)
      • Full text of committee discussions and votes since 1999
      • Searchable by committee or subcommittee, keyword, date, and bill number

    • Print sources: [Library]
      • The text of markups often appears in the printed hearings of the House Agriculture and Foreign Affairs/International Relations committees
      • Votes occasionally appear in the House and Senate Reports submitted on bills


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Congressional Research Service Reports

Comprehensive Lists

    • This agency of the Library of Congress provides detailed background information for use by Congressional committees
      • Many of the reports are issued as committee prints
        • Can be identified through Congressional Universe (UMich Only)
        • All publications are located in the Documents Center either in paper copy, microfiche, or both
      • The majority of reports are issued as Major Studies and Issue Briefs, which are unpublished

    • Major Studies and Issue Briefs
      • Cumulative Search Engine (Information to Act)
        • Search engine to Congressional Research Reports on the web using the Google search engine
      • A cumulative index, 1916-89, and updates beginning 1993 are located in the Documents Center as Z 733 .U56 A208 - Ref.
      • Microfilm of the reports, 1975 to 1995, and current indexes are located in the Serials Room as FILM X1261
      • CRS Reports beginning 1996 located on microfiche in the Documents Center as MICRO-F DoX34 (located in cabinets after the CIS current hearings)
    • CRS Reports (Stephen Young)
      • Historical background on CRS reports
      • Excellent list of CRS aggregators
      • Article originally appeared in LLRX in 2002
    • CRS Reports (FAS)
      • CRS reports on military and security affairs
    • CRS Reports via Pennyhill Press
      • Subject arrangement of reports beginning 1994
      • Provides abstract and order information
    • CRS Reports (Thurgood Marshall School of Law)
      • Numerous reports on multiple subjects in pdf format
    • Congressional Research Service Reports (Univ. of North Texas)
      • Full text of many reports since the early 1990s
      • Browse by broad heading or search by subject
    • Congressional Research Service WWW Accessible Reports
      • List of individual titles or groups of titles on the environment, foreign relations, the military, space and science, and the U.S. Government
    • Memory Hole
      • Numerous 1990s reports formerly hosted by Christopher Shays and Mark Green
    • Open CRS
      • Search engine for major collections of CRS reports
      • Also provides an RSS feed at http://opencrs.cdt.org
    • Selected CRS Reports on Congress and Its Procedures (Law Librarians Society of DC)
      • Unique digital versions of CRS reports on Congressional procedure
      • Extensive list of other CRS reports on the internet

CRS Reports by Subject

Floor Calendars

    • GPO Access
      • Floor calendars for the House and Senate beginning 104th Congress


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Floor Debates

    • Century of American Lawmaking (Library of Congress), 1774-1875
      • TIFF images of the
        • Journals of the Continental Congress (1774-93)
        • Annals of Congress (1789-1824)
        • Register of Debates (1824-1837)
        • Congressional Globe (1833-1873)
        • House and Senate Journals (1789-1873)
        • Senate Executive Journal (1789-1873)
        • Journal of William Maclay (1789-91)
      • Individual issues browsable; search engine for entire collection rather than individual titles
    • Congressional Universe (UMich Only), 1985+
      • Indexes the floor debates in the Congressional Record since 1985 by keyword, speaker, and date
      • Provides the full text
    • Congressional Record Index, 1983+
      • Keyword index to the Congressional Record since 1983
      • Record includes articles, bills, reports, and remarks with a citation to the date and page of the Congressional Record daily edition
    • GPO Access, 1994+
      • Full text of the Congressional Record beginning 1994
    • House Journal
      • Procedural moves in the House of Representatives without debates
      • Used for legal purposes
      • Full text browsable and searchable, 1991-94
    • THOMAS, 1993+
      • Congressional bills and Congressional Record, 1993+
      • Best public source for keyword indexing of bills and Congressional Record due to proximity searching
      • Best source for text of the Congressional Record
      • Includes text of all bill versions
      • Updated by the House Majority Whip's real time account of floor proceedings (reloaded every 20 seconds) and summaries for the past three days


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Roll Call Votes

    • Congress Votes Database (Washington Post)
      • Complete list of floor roll call votes in the House and Senate since the 102nd Congress, 1991
      • Sections for each Congress list House and Senate votes and votes by bill number
      • Links from the main listing for each Congress provide analyses of individual roll call outcomes by party, state, region, gender, boomer status and astrological sign
      • Overall for each Congress there are analyses of those votes with the widest and narrowest margins, late night votes, and members who missed the most votes
      • There is also a full list of members for each Congress with brief biographies, a list of their individual roll call votes and how they compared with GOP and Democratic opinion
      • Spanning all Congresses is an analysis of roll call votes for building designations, impeachments, nominations, speaker elections, treaties, and vice-presidential tiebreakers

    • House of Representatives Roll Call Votes
      • Votes tracked by Clerk of the House beginning 1990
      • Arranged by year with most current vote first
      • Table provides vote number, bill number, brief description, and result of vote
      • Click on vote number for a summary of yeas and nays by party and for votes of individual members

    • Project Vote Smart
      • Roll call votes on selected issues beginning with the 104th Congress
      • Arranged by subject and then by vote, party affiliation, and member

    • Senate Floor Votes
      • List of floor votes in reverse chronological order beginning with the 99th Congress
      • List links to a separate record providing the votes of individual senators on an issue

    • Voteview (Princeton)
      • Free software download to analyze key roll call votes in Congress, 1789-1988
      • Choose issue to determine number of yea and nay votes by party
      • May map the data by geography or ideology
      • Does not include the names of individual Members of Congress

Legislative Histories

    • Detailed guide to tracing legislation
    • Includes committee, member, and political information


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Congressional Politics

Congressional Elections 1996+

    • Annotated list of the best election web sites
    • Candidate web sites, campaign finances, and opinions on issues
    • Primary, caucus and convention information

Congressional Quarterly (UMich Only)

    • Weekly publication with non-partisan political analysis of Congress
    • Identifies major legislation, the issues, and players
    • Current roll call votes
    • Political party and election analysis
    • Web coverage begins in 1983 and is searchable

Policy Agendas Project (University of Washington)

    • Determine the amount of attention government gave to 19 major topics, 220 subtopics, or a section of the budget, 1946-2002
    • Filters allow you to choose topics and the type of material (budget, Congressional hearings, Presidential executive orders, laws, New York Times articles, CQ Almanac articles, and the Gallup Most Important Problem Index
    • Results yield data and graphs
    • Additional dataset tools available

Political Party Agendas

    • American Presidency Project (UCSB)
      • Political party platforms beginning 1840
      • Includes third party platforms when the party received an electoral vote

    • Contract with America
      • Ten policy changes the Republican candidates for the 104th Congress House of Representatives brought to the table
      • Includes bill text and description
      • Paper copy located in Documents Center and Undergraduate Library: JK 271 .C7331 1994
      • Signatories in 1994

Political Science Resources on the Web

    • Current newspapers, news magazines, and periodicals

Pig Book (Citizens Against Government Waste)

    • Listing of pork barrel appropriations for FY 2008 by subject and state
    • Oinker Awards (most obvious pork) and pork barrel per capita


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Support Agencies

Congressional Budget Office

    • Economic Budget and Outlook projects trends in federal income and expenditures
    • Revenue implications of proposed legislation
    • Staff testimony before Congressional committees

General Accounting Office

    • Renamed Government Accountability Office in 2004
    • General Accounting Office
      • Lists of recently-released "Reports and Testimonies" beginning with August 1995
      • GAO policy documents and decisions of the Comptroller General
    • General Accounting Office Reports to Congress:
      • GAO Blue Book Reports (GPO Access)
        • Full text of "Reports to Congress" on government resource management, October 1, 1994+
        • Searchable by keyword in text, report title, report identifier, and date
        • For a known report number, use quotation marks and type the number as shown: "PEMD-95-1"
      • Use the National Economic, Social and Environmental Data Bank CD-ROM, issued through August 1995 and located in Documents Center, to index earlier reports
      • Selected reports are available in paper copy (HJ 10 .R44), GPO microfiche (Micro-F X255), and American Statistics Index microfiche; ask Documents Center staff for assistance
      • For historical reports not available at the University of Michigan, contact the General Accounting Office Documents Distribution Service at 202-512-6000

Government Printing Office

    • Indexes federal government publications since January 1994 and will ultimately provide links to federal depository libraries receiving those publications
    • Indexes Dept. of Energy and GPO sales publications
    • Links to GPO Access sites for the Federal Register, Congressional Records, bills, and GAO reports

Library of Congress

    • Links to THOMAS (bills and Congressional Record),and other federal and state government Internet sources
    • Extensive section on Congress found under "Explore the Internet"
    • Describes POW/MIA data base

Office of Technology Assessment

    • The OTA published research reports on science and technology policy until eliminated
    • Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School is a main site for the full text of the OTA reports
    • GPO Access will serve as an index to the various OTA sites
    • Additional sources:
      • All reports, 1972-95, are available on CD-ROM in the Documents Center (Do 73)
      • Search MIRLYN/MCAT for printed copies of OTA reports
      • OTA reports may also be available on Congressional Information Service microfiche located in the Documents Center


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The University of Michigan Library
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Since February 25, 1996 this page has been accessed